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Eight years ago we set out to improve Michigan through unbiased, nonprofit journalism. We are still here and still adding reporters thanks in large part to our members. If you appreciate our nonpartisan approach, please become a Bridge Club member. We have five members-only events this fall around the state, including a MSU vs. Michigan football tailgate in Ann Arbor on November 16. Join us!

A bill to set rigorous statewide standards for evaluating teachers was backed by Republicans and Democrats, as well as the governor. Standing in their way: state Sen. Phil Pavlov, who has his own ideas about what's best for teachers.

UM education dean Deborah Loewenberg Ball slams the Legislature’s latest bill to rate teachers. She urges the state to instead adopt her panel’s recommendations, which she said would be the nation’s gold standard for raising classroom performance.

In an era where consolidating government and creating “efficiencies” is the mantra, there are 16 one-room schoolhouses still operating across lower Michigan, often in the shadow of larger schools districts. Do they have a future?

The vast majority of families that pick one-room schools for their children do so through Michigan’s broad school choice law. For Paul and Jeanine Starcher, choosing Verona Mills was a way to keep their quadruplets in one classroom.

A consensus of research shows home-visitation programs for families with young children improve child development, while saving taxpayers money that would otherwise go to remedial education, incarceration and other costs.

For thousands of low-income students, a four-year college degree is only within reach if they start at community college, saving money on tuition. State lawmakers are leaning on colleges and universities to make that process easier by ensuring students’ hard-earned credits transfer with them.